Death Scripture

Doctor Sun of the North City and Immortal Peng of the South City were famous within the walls of the Jade City, and while one needed fame and riches before being able to pay a visit to the Doctor, one could only rely on fate to meet Immortal Peng.

There were not many who were destined to meet him, and most who had such an opportunity would be extremely delighted. It was unheard of for one to be so afraid, like Xu Xiaoyi who nearly wet his pants.

“Me?”

“Um, you.”

“No, no, you’ve got it wrong. I, I am just a follower. He is the master.”

Xu Xiaoyi lifted his hand halfway and brought it back down, glancing quickly at Brother Huan.

The youth was very certain and said, “It’s definitely you.”

Gu Shenwei nodded, implying that Xu Xiaoyi could see Immortal Peng; as Xu did not know kung fu, he did not have to worry about any incident that could happen.

Xu Xiaoyi got up nervously, and walked up the stairs at the youth’s gesture.

The youth stayed behind and lowered his gaze, turning from a kung fu master into an obedient slave in an instant.

The peaceful atmosphere lasted for half an hour. While Xu Xiaoyi had not come back downstairs, a magical mutual understanding was established between the two killers, who had not even exchanged glances.

Slave Jing suddenly made a move again, and was suppressed by the youth once more when his saber was drawn halfway.

Gu Shenwei waited for the optimal moment to make his move, and that was when the youth had finished making his move and had not yet turned his attention toward him.

The saber opened a shallow wound in a line across the youth’s neck. Gu Shenwei felt regretful, as if he had used a sword, he could have killed this kung fu expert and brought his swordsmanship up to the next level.

The youth staggered thrice, and this time everyone in the teahouse felt shocked turning in sync to face the killer. Many of them reached under their tables.

There were 29 different variations recorded in the Death Scripture but there’s only one move. If the opponent was of an average skill level in kung fu, Gu Shenwei could keep striking repeatedly without considering about defence, but his opponent was an expert, and he could only wait for the next opportunity.

“Good machete technique,” praised the youth. He did not even bother about the wound on his neck and the female-like demure expression did not change. The other guests turned back to their tea once more.

Gu Shenwei laid the drawn saber across his knees and said, “It’s still a bit lacking.”

“I am Chu Yangjun, and I have yet to get your esteemed name yet, Sir.” The youth spoke presented himself as if they had just met, and gave his name. His attitude had turned more cordial as well.

“I have come to look for someone, and only wish to ask a few questions.” Killers did not have the habit of announcing their names or affiliations. Gu Shenwei still stuck to this initial request.

The man who had applied makeup came close and whispered a few words into Chu Yangjun’s ear.

“So you are Yang Huan, the killer from the Kun Society. I have long admired your great fame.”

“You flatter me. I am not here to look for trouble, but only wish to ask a few simple questions. If he wishes to answer me he can, if he does not wish to it’s also fine. I do not wish to force him.”

Chu Yangjun lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying, “Fine, but I have one condition.”

“Pray tell.”

“The person you are looking for is sitting right here, Manager Yang can look for him and question him, but you only have one chance, is that all right?”

Gu Shenwei nodded, still holding on to his saber and sitting at the same spot. After a while, he got up and walked up to a hunched back old man who had white hair, wrinkly and coarse skin and a lump growing on his head. He said to the old man,”If I were you, I would not go too heavy on the disguise, nor would I keep looking around.”

The old man helplessly looked at Chu Yangjun once and sighed as he straightened his back. “I know what you wish to ask, but I really do not have anything to say, Marquis Gao’s death has nothing to do with me. I really did not witness anything, and when Zhou Huan died I was already back here. All the more, it does not have anything to do with me.”

“Can we speak in private?”

Chu Yangjun cut in to refute before the disguised Qi Da had a chance to speak. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. If others knew that he spoke in private with you, it would bring more trouble.”

“Then we shall talk here. I believe your words, that you have nothing to do with Marquis Gao’s death.” Gu Shenwei paused for a while before throwing out the question that was bugging him, “How did Marquis Gao get into trouble with that special master, and cause you to get yelled at?”

While Qi Da’s face was covered in many layers of disguise and no one could detect any change in his facial expression, his mouth was agape and he was speechless. Gu Shenwei knew that he had guessed correctly, and that Qi Da was the man arguing with and getting an earful from Master Yu from the conversation that Slave Jing had overheard.

“I-I…”

“I said I would not force anyone. If you do not wish to speak, that’s fine, but you have to consider whether other people would believe you.”

Gu Shenwei did not know which of his words had provoked Qi Da, and the latter suddenly became steadfast. “I do not know anything, nor do I understand what you are talking about. If you know the rules, do not ask another question,” said Qi Da.

Gu Shenwei retreated back to his original position, and said to Chu Yangjun, “And just like this, I have finished my questioning.”

“It’s for the best.” Chu Yangjun seemed to become more curious about this killer, as he stared at him without breaking his gaze. “Do you use a sword?”

“I don’t, the sword was a gift from somebody else.”

“That’s right, Ye Silang said you were a swordsman, but during your duel with him you did not use a sword, and neither did you today.”

Xu Xiaoyi walked down the stairs with a strange expression on his face, looking like the survivor of some great disaster, as he felt a mixture of happiness and grief. It was as if the way the entire world looked had changed in his eyes.

As soon as they stepped out of the Joy Pavilion, Xu Xiaoyi could not wait to share his life’s fortune with the others. “Immortal Peng is a real, living deity, he…”

To his disappointment, Brother Huan was not even a little bit interested in this matter and dragged him to be on their way. “You can speak of it later,” he said.

What surprised and frightened him was that Brother Huan made a sudden change of direction and unexpectedly ran straight towards the path of a gorgeously dressed man. The man was leaning against his door and was seemingly taken aback by this business opportunity. He said, “I only receive one customer at a time, if there are three of you…”

Without waiting for him to finish, Gu Shenwei pushed the man and dragged Xu Xiaoyi into the room.

“Oh, you don’t have to be so hasty,” said the man who was a little unhappy.

“The two of you stay here, no one is supposed to go outside.”

Gu Shenwei gave his instructions, pushed the back window open and leapt out.

Xu Xiaoyi and the man were shocked speachless and looked at each other. When they were about to voice out their questions at the same time, Slave Jing drew out his saber, and there was immediate silence in the room.

There was a stretch of high wall a few feet away from the back of the room, separating Hope Alley from the other places. The ground around it was strewn with refuse and even an entire winter’s snowfall could not hide it.

Gu Shenwei walked quickly forward against the wall, all the way till he reached the back of the Joy Pavilion. No one noticed him in the end.

The last sentence Qi Da spoke seemed to point towards some clue, and Gu Shenwei felt that he had not guessed wrongly. Therefore he walked once around while looking carefully and found what he was looking for at a spot located at the foot of the wall.

Someone had used water from the snow to write a few lines, and it was very written very lightly. If Gu Shenwei had come slightly later, he estimated that the words would have been gone.

“Marquis Gao wanted money from the master, the master said it had been given before and asked for Marquis Gao to know his limits. Nothing further.”

This was what Qi Da wanted to tell the killer Yang Huan, and it was the content of his argument with Master Yu on that night.

Gu Shenwei was a little surprised, he had thought that the person asking for money would have been Shangguan Yushi. He was perplexed as to where did Shangguan Yushi get the money to give Marquis Gao, and also why she wanted to give it to him.

He picked up a handful of snow, wiped off the words and retraced his steps. After walking for a short distance, he noticed that the path in front of him was blocked.

The purple-clad Chu Yangjun stood on a small snowpack, and it looked as if his feet were not touching the ground and had avoided the huge amount of refuse. He held a sword in his hand.

Yet another swordsman.

“A swordsman is like a chess player; if two of them meet and did not play a round together, it would lead to eternal regret for them. Please enlighten me.”

Gu Shenwei grasped the hilt of his machete.

“There is no other person here, would you not want to use a sword, Sir?”

Gu Shenwei had his own set of principles, and against a challenger who came looking for him on his own accord, he did not wish to show his real kung fu.

“The sword is a useless piece of equipment.”

Chu Yangjun was unmoved by this taunt and did not again request for the killer to use a sword. His sleeves flapped in the wind and it seemed as if he would levitate at any moment.

Both of them were surprised. They could not detect any killing intent from the other party, and it was as if neither was ready to make the first move.

Gu Shenwei was looking for the living energy from this opponent, but Chu Yangjin was different from the others. his ‘Qi’ was clearer yet flowed faster, and any flaw that presented itself quickly disappeared in a flash. Gu Shenwei could not actually find the right moment to strike.

This duel ended abruptly. It was not certain why Chu Yangjin changed his mind. He only said, ‘I’m taking my leave’, before leaping up onto the roof and vanishing.

Gu Shenwei turned his head and saw that a window on the third story of the Joy Pavilion was open. He was very certain that the window had been closed.

Gu Shenwei felt that his Internal Breath was not running smoothly. Upon using the Death Scripture sword craft, one had to focus all of their concentration, and once this state reached its peak but was not released, it would cause great harm to one’s body. He had faced qigong deviation because of this before, and lately he had been in situations where he should have struck but did not make his move.

In between his Baihui and Xuanji pressure points, there were still two portions of Peripheral Force which were not broken through over these few months. Gu Shenwei hoped that they would not complicate matters at this juncture.

Gu Shenwei left the man in heavy makeup a silver ingot, and left Hope Alley with Slave Jing and Xu Xiaoyi in tow. He had gotten important information, but, instead of answering his questions, the doubts in his heart had increased.

To think that a Marquis would have requested for money from a female master from the Stone Castle, and even got what he wished for once. Gu Shenwei could not fathom the logic behind it, and even suspected that commandant Zhong Heng had made use of him again. The leads given by that old fox were all given for a reason.

The leads that he could chase down had become much fewer, but he was only a small half step away from the truth.

Gu Shenwei was full of deep thoughts, and even two incidents of machetemen fights which he encountered on the way back did not manage to draw his attention. It was until when they were near the stronghold of the Kun Society, and the shouts and screams came in from afar, that he reacted, dismissing Xu Xiaoyi and sprinting with Slave Jing back towards the residence.

The battle of the largest scale between both the Kun and Horned Dragon Societies was in progress.

The battle took place in an unnamed alley, and the attacking party was the Horned Dragon Society. Hundreds of machetemen swarmed forth, wave upon wave pushing forward. Fifth Young Master Meng must have made a tempting offer of reward to be able to cause his men to willingly sacrifice their lives and become undaunted by danger. When every enemy was struck down, they had to follow the practice of the Stone Castle and decapitate the opponent.

The path back to the stronghold was blocked, and both killers leapt up onto the roof to join the fray.

Unless one’s hand was forced, experienced killers and machetemen would never willingly jump into the heart of a battle, it was too crowded in there, and no matter how good one’s kung fu was, there would be no space to unleash it. They ran around the surroundings and only picked off the stragglers, acting as if they were predators hunting a large pack of prey. They retreated once they had succeeded, and killed far more using this method than those unproficient machetemen who were shouting until they had become hoarse.

This was a mass melee that no one could control, and there were only a few machetemen left who were struggling to maintain the machete formation that Tuo Nengya had trained them in. The others were trapped and surrounded.

The battle continued late into the night. But none of the lanterns were lit in the South City because it was the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar, when there was a full moon.

More than a hundred corpses were left strewn on the streets. The merchants of the South City did not open their stores for business for three consecutive days, and every family had shut and locked their doors. No matter whether it was night or day, there was hardly anyone to be found on the street and, all of a sudden, the bustling South City had turned into a ghost town.

Gu Shenwei had released his long pent up killing desire, making a few ghosts out of his saber, but he had also lost an important companion. What he gained could not offset what he had lost.

Slave Jing was dead.

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